' Catholic schools should be free to be Catho lic ' Cathol ic education chief to tell Joint Parliamentary Committee
National Cath olic Educatio n C o mmission (NCEC) executive director Jacinta Collins will tell a Joint Parliamentary Committee Inquiry today that " Catholic schools should be free to be Cath olic ".
Ms Collins will appear with NCEC d eputy d irector Sally Egan at the Inquiry considering the long - awaited Rel igious Discrimination Bill 2021 and related bills.
" Parents should have the right to choose a school for their children that reflects their values and belief s, " Ms Collins said. " And f or Catholic schools this means being able to prefere nce th e enrolment or employment of students or st aff who are Catholic, or who are willing to support and share in the ethos and mission of the scho ol. "
"We know from a rece nt survey that 63% of the general population, 82% of Catholics and 79% of parents with children in Catholic schools believe r eligious schools should be 'entitled to require employees to act in their roles that uphold the ethos and values of that faith and the school should be free to favour hiring employees who share these values '. " *
In a submission to the Inquiry, Catholic e ducation says p art of the challenge for Catholic schools is to retain a 'critical mass' of Catholic students and staff.
" The Australian Catholic Bish ops' pastoral le tter, 200 Years Young, released in the bicentennial year, recognises the challenges for Catholic schools of a chan ging and ever - increasingly secularist soc iety in maintaining a Catholic identity and mission, " the submission rea ds.
" Part of this challenge is for Catholic schools to retain a 'critical mass' of Catholic students a nd staff in our schools, even as we welcome those from other religious backgrounds or none. "
M s Collins said in seeking the freedom to operate in accordance with their religious beliefs.
Catholic schools do not discr iminate, and are not seek ing to discriminate, based on an individual's personal attributes.
" This is not what the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 is leg islating. It 's about protecting religious rights, not discriminating against people who don't support the same religious view.
" Religious freedom deserves the same protection as other rights in Australia, ensuring a fair and reasonable balance with other protected right s, " she said. " The codification of t he universal right of freedom of religion is needed to address this gap in Australian legislation. "
M s Collins will also tell the Inquiry that the harmoni s ation of legislation for religious protection is needed to prevent over - reach of state le gislation on faith - based schools.
" The recent introdu ction of amendments to the Victoria Equal Opportunity Act lim it the ability of faith - based schools to continue to operate according to our ethos, " Ms Collins said.
Despi te the Victoria n Attorney General 's admission that religious providers don 't discriminate.
the Victoria n Labor Government has moved away from it s own policy platform to push for legislation that i t says is " sym bolic " in nature.
" The introduction of proactive Commonwealth legislation is needed to ensure religious rights are protected in the same way as other rights in Australia. "
Background
The Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 an d re la ted bills are the subject of two inquiries before parliamentary debate resumes in February.
Catholic Ed ucation is responding to these inquiries through written submiss ions and appearances at the inquiries.
There are 1,755 Catho lic schools in Australia, educating one in five or over 777,000 student s and employing over 100,000 s taff.
